I wanted to beg you to stay.
Perhaps love
could have rewritten fate.
But my mind has memorized
the sound of departing footsteps
better than it remembers
the sound of promises.
So I smiled.
As if losing you
was something
I had already survived.
Forgive my silence.
It wasn’t pride.
It was a heart
that had already attended
its own funeral
once before,
and could not bear
to buy flowers
for another.
Ariana Afrin Emu is a Bangladeshi poet and nonfiction writer whose work focuses on love, grief, healing, and the creative process. She has published poetry in literary journals and magazines and writes essays on writing, creativity, and self-improvement. Her work emphasizes emotional honesty and simple, impactful language. She is currently working toward publishing her debut poetry collection and shares her writing online under the name @arianaemu.